Biden commutes dozens of death sentences. Donald Trump responds to people who say Elon Musk is in charge. And NBC News speaks with four families who found themselves in debt after joining the health services.

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Biden commutes dozens of death sentences to life in prison without parole

President Joe Biden announced he is commuting the death sentences of 37 inmates, leaving just three people on death row in federal prisons. According to the White House, the commuted sentences will be downgraded to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“These commutations are consistent with the moratorium my administration has placed on federal executions in cases other than terrorism and hate-motivated mass murder,” Biden said in a statement. “Make no mistake: I condemn these murderers, mourn the victims of their heinous acts, and mourn all the families who have suffered unimaginable and irreparable losses.”

One of the inmates whose sentences Biden will commute, Billie Allen, has maintained his innocence. Allen said he felt like his hope was “cut” when Donald Trump won the presidential election last month.

Around the time of Trump’s election, some correctional staff members mocked inmates at the prison in Terre Haute, Indiana, according to a death row inmate and two federal defenders. The same sources said execution rehearsals also increased in the run-up to Trump’s inauguration at the prison, which holds nearly all federal death row inmates.

The three men who remain on federal death row are Robert Bowers, who killed 11 people at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh in 2018; Dylann Roof, who killed nine people in a shooting at a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015; and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombers. In 2021, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a moratorium on federal executions. No federal inmates were executed during Biden’s presidency.

Read the full story here.

Trump addresses Elon Musk’s growing political influence: ‘He’s not going to be president’

President-elect Donald Trump dismissed suggestions that he was being usurped by his ally Elon Musk after the tech billionaire spent a week helping to derail an emergency spending measure to avert a government shutdown.

Musk, owner of the social media site Democrats mockingly call him “President Musk.” History shows that anyone who overshadows Trump or diverts attention from him will not stay in his orbit for long.

Trump spoke for more than an hour at Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest conference in Phoenix, his first rally since the election. Trump said the idea that he had “ceded the presidency to Musk” was untrue and that even if Musk wanted the job, he couldn’t get it because the Constitution requires the U.S. president to be a natural-born citizen . Musk was born in South Africa.

Read the full story here.

More coverage:

• Rep. Tony Gonzales compared tech mogul Elon Musk to a “prime minister” He praised the tech mogul for opposing an early version of an emergency funding bill last week.

Honda and Nissan announce plans to merge, creating the world’s third largest automaker

Japanese automakers Nissan and Honda announced they have begun formal merger talks to create the world’s third-largest automaker.

Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said the companies needed greater scale to compete in developing new technologies for electric vehicles and intelligent driving. Mibe added that if approved, the integration would be a medium to long-term project that is not currently expected to show visible progress before 2030 and beyond.

Nissan’s strategic partner Mitsubishi has been offered the opportunity to join the new group and will make a decision by the end of January 2025 The deal would aim to share information and resources and provide economies of scale and synergies while protecting both brands, Mibe said.

NYPD arrests person involved in fatal burning of woman on subway

A man described as a person of interest was arrested in the search for a suspect who fatally set a woman sleeping in a subway car on fire, New York police said.

New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference that a person was seen in the area sitting on a platform bench shortly after the crime and that an officer’s body camera captured clear images of her. Three people described as “high school aged” subway riders spotted the man and called 911, Tisch said. Officers boarded the train, found the man and took him into custody.

The woman, whose name has not been publicly released, was sleeping on a stationary F train at the Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn. There a man came towards her, set fire to it and fled from the carriage.

NFL Week 16 Highlights

The Dallas Cowboys went into “Sunday Night Football” with no chance of making the playoffs, but apparently no one told them that as they beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 26-24. While Dallas quarterback Cooper Rush threw for 292 yards and a touchdown, the team’s defense was the real issue. NBC News sports editor Greg Rosenstein reviews this week’s NFL matchups:

🤕 Despite trailing by 13 points early in the fourth quarter, the Washington Commanders came back and defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 36-33. Washington quarterback Jayden Daniels finished the game with five touchdowns, none more important than Jamison Crowder’s grab in the final seconds to secure the victory. The Commanders improved to 10-5 this season, tying the franchise’s most wins in a single season since 1992. Philadelphia (12-3), previously riding a 10-game winning streak, played most of the game without starting quarterback Jalen Hurts. who suffered a concussion late in the first quarter.

🏈Speaking of comebacks: The Buffalo Bills overcame a 14-point deficit in the first half to beat the New England Patriots 24-21. Quarterback Josh Allen, an MVP candidate, had a lackluster game by his standards, but running back James Cook stepped up with two touchdowns, one rushing and one receiving. The win prevented the Kansas City Chiefs from securing the No. 1 seed in the AFC postseason.

🏃‍♂️Colts running back Jonathan Taylor was criticized last week for fumbling at the goal line (which angered many fantasy football owners), but he rebounded with that best individual performance of the weekend. Taylor rushed for 218 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries in a 38-30 win over the Tennessee Titans.

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• Ten people are dead after their small plane crashed in the southern Brazilian city of Gramado.
• A seven-year-old was seriously injured during a drone show while on vacation in Orlando when one of the devices hit him in the chest.
• Current and former University of Michigan students have filed a lawsuit against the school over allegations that it targeted pro-Palestinian students involved in protests on campus.

Personnel selection: Uninsured during her pregnancy, she turned to a Christian cost-sharing group. Her family was in debt.

Health Care Sharing Ministries, a type of nonprofit health care cost-sharing organization, offer reimbursement for some medical bills to paying members. The groups market themselves as a kind of faith-based alternative to health insurance and have grown rapidly. However, they are not subject to the same regulations and are not legally required to reimburse people. Many of the groups specifically limit members’ eligibility for birth insurance, a challenge four families told NBC News while they were members. Everyone warned others not to join in.

This story arose from health reporter Aria Bendix’s reporting for a previous article about insured families facing medical debt due to complicated deliveries. Instead, here she tells the story of uninsured families who sought support outside of the mainstream health care system during their pregnancy but were disappointed with the results.

—Dana Varinsky, Editor for science and health

NBC Select: Online shopping, simplified

The Oura Ring is a health tracker disguised as a metal ring. While it doesn’t replace your smartwatch, it tracks your heart rate, workouts, and sleep. Here is what NBC Select’s tech editor liked and didn’t like after four months of using the Oura ring.

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Thank you for reading the Morning Rundown. Today’s newsletter was curated for you by Elizabeth Both.